BARTULA: VIŠNJIĆ'S POEMS ON DIGNITY AND INJUSTICE MATTER TODAY

BIJELJINA, NOVEMBER 5 /SRNA/ – Serbian folk poet and gusle player Filip Višnjić is an inexhaustible source of inspiration, and his songs about freedom, human dignity and the fight against injustice are just as relevant today, Vladan Bartula, dean of the Faculty of Philosophy at the University of Istočno Sarajevo, said in Bijeljina.

Speaking at a ceremony held as part of the 33rd Višnjić Days festival, Bartula said that through the epic form, Višnjić illustrated historical continuity and showed how people lost their freedom and fell under foreign rule because of their own weaknesses and unworthy lives.

"Through the prism of sin and repentance, the Serb people always returned to preserving their dignity, defending their sacred sites and building a historical continuity of tradition," Bartula said.

He said the importance of events like this lay not only in commemorating the life and work of a great poet, but also in preserving culture, identity and spiritual values, which mattered more than material ones.

Srđan Lalić, president of the Serbian Educational and Cultural Society "Prosvjeta" in Bijeljina, said the Višnjić Days festival was important for nurturing the community's culture, traditions, identity and cultural and historical heritage.

Lalić said the work of Prosvjeta in recent years, especially through the Višnjić Days, was further proof of the continuity and endurance of Serbian culture, history and tradition.

As in previous years, students from Bijeljina's Filip Višnjić High School took part in the ceremony. The school’s principal, Olivera Stevanović, said the school took pride in its many outstanding students and also in its national values.

Stevanović added that in Bijeljina, November was the month of the Višnjić Days.